I’m Dreaming in Sherwin Williams Jetstream Blue

I’ve been dreaming about color swatches. Yes, color swatches. And faucets, knobs and backsplash tile. Pendant lights. Basement playroom organization (and if any of you have suggestions for organizing toys so that it doesn’t look like a little kids’ playroom, drop me a line…) I’ve become a bit codependent on my iPad, and my relationship with Houzz, Pinterest and Craigslist is a bit stalkerish and fanatical.

Pea and I have been happily yard-saleing, and my to-be-DIY’d pile is growing.

You see, the countdown is on….two weeks from today, we get back our house, which we have been renting out while we were living in the UK.

Four years. Three families of renters, four dogs, and possibly one illegal cat.

There is a LOT of work to be done – pretty much every wall needs to be repainted. Trim needs to be repaired. My powder room floor needs to be replaced where *oops* no one noticed that the sink was leaking until it was too late. The carpet in the basement, along with the baseboard trim, needs to be replaced as the sump pump died with the last big storm. There is something funky going on in my master bath where it looks like someone tried to switch out the shower head for a rainforest shower head, only it didn’t quite work right.

I try not to grit my teeth.

At least I get a new kitchen out of the deal! And while I’ve been having fun picking out cabinets and working with a designer on the plan, we’re heading into crunch time, where we NEED to get some last decisions made so that we can order the cabinets (and I can go on vacation immediately after unpacking…and unplug. Stop laughing. I can do it. Maybe.)

And, you know, so that the kitchen is actually in place by the time friends from the UK come to visit this fall. There are only so many meals you can grill and crock pot for company, y’all.

I’m a detail girl. I like to have my ducks in a row. I HATE to live out of boxes and suitcases. I don’t fare well in clutter. But all this planning is disastrous for a slightly obsessive personality. (I promise you, friends, soon I’ll be able to talk about something other than moving home.)

July is gonna be crazy.

I can’t wait.

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So stay tuned. There is going to be a lot of stuff goin’ on at this momma’s house this summer!